Called by Jay Leno "the handsomest political historian I've ever seen" and by Newsweek the "nation's leading presidential historian", Beschloss is criticized by historians on three general grounds. First his credentials -- he only has a Bachelor of Arts degree, and not a doctorate. What this argument has to do with his scholarship is anyone's guess. (Of course, a doctorate was not enough for Stephen E. Ambrose to duck allegations of plagiarism, no matter how deserved or undeserved those accusations were. Ambrose, to his credit, is no James Mackay). Secondly, his being articulate coupled with Leno's observation, and the fact that he tries to write books that both appeal to scholars and the popular audience makes him seem a "lightweight." Beschloss may not produce the most unique scholarship, but scholarship is there and he does his own, original research. Finally, Beschloss writes histories that concentrate more on politics and less on the "History of Ideas." Someone has to write the history of politics.

Author of books:Kennedy and Roosevelt: The Uneasy Alliance (1980, history)Eisenhower: A Centennial Life (1990, biography)The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960-1963 (1991, history)At the Highest Levels: The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War (1993, history, with Strobe Talbott)Taking Charge (1997, history)Reaching for Glory (2001, history)The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 (2002, history)